How to Save a Life
by JadeTheCon
Summary: Saving someone's life isn't always taking a bullet for them. When you change someone's view point of the world, you change how they see their own life. You change them. Rated T for language. FemShepxGarrus
1. More Time

How to Save a Life

Chap. 1 More Time

Yey:-) Off hiatus! Wheee…! I'm scrapping the old story and rewriting it. Hope none of you mind… Thanks for everyone's support, too. You don't know how much it means to me! Don't forget to review!

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'Access Denied'

Garrus Vakarian let out an exasperated sigh, and it wasn't for the first time that day, either. He smacked the back key and typed in another.

'Access Denied'

The Turian released a growl in annoyance. He'd been at this for hours. He smashed the back key and turned his glare to the messy pile of papers sitting next to the typing pad on his desk. Garrus hated desk work. No, not hate. Hate wasn't a strong enough word. Garrus despised desk work. It just wasn't his idea of catching criminals.

He traced his long index finger along the dark column of words neatly typed on the paper. He paused every now and then, as if remembering if he already used them. He stopped at the last access code on the paper. He narrowed his eyes and slowly typed in the digits.

'Access Denied'

"Stupid machine! Bah!" he flung his arms into the air and jumped up, flipping his chair over in the process. "Damned Spectres! Grah!" and then fell the papers. With all his yelling and wild movements, the papers Garrus had scattered along the desk caught the air and flew around the room. There was a pause in the yelling, and then. "Damned papers!"

The C-Sec officer marched out of his small office. That report was due, and he had nothing. He knew there was something, he just couldn't get to it. The angered Turian walked along, not caring if he ran into anyone. It could have been his father, a Council Member or a child. He didn't care. Garrus needed more time, and he needed it now. With hope, Pallin would understand. But, he knew it was a lost cause when he saw the Executor standing at the top of the stairs.

"Garrus. I need that report," Executor Pallin looked his officer over and came to the conclusion; there wasn't a report. "Where is it?"

"Saren's a Spectre! It's all classified, I haven't be able to find anything! I just need more time…" Garrus crossed his arms, praying, maybe, the Council could be delayed or something would happen. All he needed was more time.

"More time, Garrus? What do you expect me to do?" the Executor, too, crossed his arms.

"Stall the Council! I ju-"

"Stall the Council? Impossible," Executor Pallin closed his eyes and shook his head, meaningful in what he said. Then, something caught his eye and he looked down the stairs. Garrus followed his gaze and caught sight of three humans, making there way up the stairs.

The Executor sighed and nodded his parting to Garrus. Garrus however stayed and watched the three humans rise up the stairs. He recognized the one in front almost instantly, although he'd never seen her before. Commander Shepard. That was the human, the one whom he was supposed to write a report for. Garrus closed his eyes and got his temper under control.

"Commander Shepard," he said. "Garrus Vakarian. I was the C-Sec officer in charge of the investigation on Saren."

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"I deen't do eet! I swear! I deedn't tell anvone!" the mercenary held his pistol up to the doctor's temple as Garrus crouched and walked along the base of the wall, out of sight. It was at that moment, she decided to show up.

"Well then, you stay smart. If Garrus comes around, you-" the mercenary shoved his pistol harder against the women's skull.

"Put the weapon down!" in a flash of red, the woman had her gun out and pointed it directly at the merc. While she had him distracted, Garrus spun out from behind the wall and shot. He didn't exactly look where he shot, he just shot by instinct. The mercenary fell around the doctor's feet and she ran behind a makeshift barrier.

Garrus shot again, and killed the merc who had been threatening the doctor. Shepard ran out from behind Garrus's previous hiding spot and shot twice, killing another mercenary. The other female human pulled out an assault rifle and let another merc have it. The male, obviously a biotic, used the invisible force to throw the fourth, and last, merc. He was bleeding from the head, unconscious. The fight was over in mere seconds.

The Turian lowered his pistol and turned his head to look at the doctor. She was alright, albeit a little shaken from the shooting.

"Great timing Shepard. Gave me a clear shot at the bastard," Garrus said, he crossed his arms again and shifted his eyes to the other human.

"What were you thinking! You could have shot the hostage!" the red-haired woman made wild movements with her hands. Garrus could tell she wasn't the type of person you wanted to anger.

"I didn't mean to… I just reacted… Dr. Michel, are you hurt?"

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Garrus stepped into his home. It was an apartment, just outside the Wards. It was small, and mostly barren. There were no pictures on the wall, or trinkets placed on the furniture. This was the home of a Turian. Such things were unneeded in the eyes of his species.

It would also be the last time Garrus would see the plain walls, for awhile at least. Tomorrow morning, he was to leave the Citadel on the Normandy, with the newly promoted Spectre-Commander Shepard. He would be the only Turian present, along with a Quarian and a Krogan. Honestly, he didn't know what propelled him to accept the invitation.

Garrus also had no idea why he hated Saren so. He'd never met the fellow Turian, only ever heard things of him. And, mostly, those things were how he was one of the best Spectres out there. Something just rubbed him the wrong way, how he was so perfect. Or, maybe it was because so many other people died along the way… But, according to all the stories he's heard of the Spectre, it was always well worth the sacrifices.

It was then, Garrus noted, how Shepard got what needed to be done without excess bloodshed. The human even went so far as to shout at a Krogan for killing the Gang-Lord, Fist. Garrus agreed with the Krogan, somewhat, but also with Shepard. She pointed out how he was an unarmed prisoner, he was defenseless… What honor is there to be gained by killing a defenseless human…?

The Turian put his hands on the counter of the bathroom and examined his reflection in the mirror. Fist was a Gang-Lord… Didn't he deserve to be killed? He killed so many, a point the Krogan brought up… Garrus closed his eyes and tilted his head upward, towards the uniform ceiling. Of course he deserved to be killed. That was the only logical answer. And, there was all the honor in the world to be gained by avenging all those deaths…

Wasn't there?

The Turian opened his eyes and lowered his to stare at the bland ground. He shook his head and walked into his bedroom. He turned off the lights and laid himself on the bed. He drifted off to the black abyss of sleep, all the while thinking; _That human, Shepard…She's done something to my head…_

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Really, I think this story is way better then what I was originally going for :-) Hope ya'll agree with me! Read and review! Reviews are author's food for life! –Jade, out! xD


	2. Feros

How to Save a Life

Chap 2 Feros

Yey! Glad ya'll like this story better. And, something I realized I didn't do last Chapter… I don't own Mass Effect, sadly. The wonderful people of Bioware, do, however. So, no suing:-P Don't forget to review!

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He just couldn't figure that female out. She chose to not shoot the mindless settlers, even though they were shooting at her and her team. Garrus had his sniper rifle out, but it remained silent. Wrex had his biotic barrier at full strength, but none of his efforts went into defending himself. The Commander had given the two their orders; Do not shoot the colonists.

Why the woman wanted to spare the thoughtless humans, Garrus just couldn't comprehend. The woman was nearly shot several times while throwing a gas grenade, which stunned the settlers. Still, she didn't shoot. The Turian eyed his superior carefully, trying to predict her actions, and yet, every time he was sure she would defend herself, her determined expression did not flinch. She would not yield, when Garrus would have.

Why though?

Fai-dan was the only being Shepard raised her gun at. And then, after apologizing, he shot himself. Garrus shook his head and shifted the weight of the rifle to his other hand. Humans were very strange creatures, and Shepard was no exception. But something about her, made him feel at ease.

Of course, none of that mattered now. Those colonists weren't going to stay stunned forever, and the Thurian was still alive. Commander Shepard led her small team down into the ground, down several series of stairs. Lower and lower they went, until finally, the ground leveled out.

"Now, all we need to do is find this 'Thurian' and… and…"The trio stopped dead in their tracks when they came to a very large room. It was round and the ceiling rose to quite a height. The actual bottom of the room disappeared into shadow as it sunk into the earth. In the center of the room, was a thing. It had long, thick tendrils extending from the main part of itself, which was a grayish flesh color, and the thing reeked of decay. A gaping hole near the bottom of the round body hung a substance not worth describing.

Wrex grunted something in his own native tongue, and Garrus's mouth hung open revealing each and every one of his sharp teeth. 

"This… could be problematic…" the Commander sighed and took a step forward.

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Garrus blinked. And, it wasn't because they just came up from the dark, dank underground, either. The settlers were there, caring for the others of their species that were injured by the geth. He heard a small series of mechanical clicks behind him. Wrex was putting away gun, and in front of him, the Commander was putting away her gun as well. Hesitantly, the Turian put away his gun and watched the colonists. Surely, there must be some after effect from the indoctrination? You can't just lose control of your mind for a time, and not have side effects, right? He turned to his Commander, who looked pleased, almost cheerful as she watched the remaining colonists rebuild themselves.

The scenes of the same settlers shooting at them replayed in Garrus's mind, and, during these mini-movies, he realized just why the Commander refused to shoot the colonists. Just because they were confused, didn't mean they were worthless. They were still people… Shepard saw that, not him.

Lizbeth and her mother thanked the Commander profusely while the Turian and the Krogan stood behind her like a couple of guard dogs. It irked Garrus, a little bit, that they thanked only the Commander, and not him and Wrex. Of course, these were the same beings Garrus would have shot rather then stun them. Pondering this, Garrus realized he was glad they didn't thank him, he didn't deserve to be thanked. He was just following orders.

Where was this coming from? He helped save those humans' lives, of course he deserved to be thanked! … Right? 

Turians are an old and proud race. They are warriors of sorts, and hold honor and integrity above all else. When a Turian owes a debt, he repays its. When a Turian gives a favor (however seldom), he is thanked and the debt is repaid. Humans aren't like that, though. They advance and move forward. They do only what they deem necessary, whilst the Turians do whatever needs to be done. There's no good or evil here, just their nature. So, why is one starting to feel wrong?

He's been spending too much time with humans. Species aren't supposed to mingle with other species for to long, after all, you are what you are. Yeah… That's what it is. At least, that's what Garrus keeps telling himself.

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:-O Yep, a short Chap. Sorry about that. I just can't seem to blend the ideas in this scene with the next, so I'm just gonna make it another Chap ;-) Don't forget to review! And I've decided not to update until I get a decent amount of reviews :-) (just to be evil –cue evil laughter-) -Jade, out! xD


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